Asylum applications: Turkey follows Syria and Afghanistan

The number of asylum seekers in Europe increased by nearly 50% in 2022 compared to 2021, Welt am Sonntag said, citing a EU Commission report that refers to the European Asylum Support Office's (EUAA) figures dated 4 January.

The number of asylum applications in the 27 EU countries rose to 923,991 last year, signifying to an increase of 46.5% compared to the previous year.

In 2022 Germany saw the highest number of asylum applications since 2016, a total of 226,467, constituting most of the asylum applications in the EU. France followed with 154,597, Spain with 116,952, and Austria with 108,490.

Syria has been ranked the first as the origin country of asylum seekers with 72,646 applications made by Syrian nationals. It has been followed by Afghanistan with 41,471 asylum applications, and Turkey with 25,054 applications.

Iraq and Georgia follow the first three.